A prominent Greek journalist who published the names of more than 2,000 wealthy Greeks with Swiss bank accounts appeared in court yesterday to stand trial on charges of violating data privacy laws.
Kostas Vaxevanis, editor of Hot Doc weekly magazine, was arrested at the weekend for publishing the “Lagarde List”, which French authorities gave to Athens in 2010 so that the account holders could be investigated for possible tax evasion.
The list – and the accompanying saga of how it was passed from one senior official to the next and misplaced at one point without anyone apparently taking action – has riveted Greeks who are angry at a political class seen as unwilling to crack down on the wealthy elite.
Mr Vaxevanis’s trial was adjourned soon after starting until Thursday. He could face up to two years in prison if convicted.
“I was doing my job in the name of the public interest,” Mr Vaxevanis told a crowd of supporters outside court. “Journalism is revealing the truth when everyone else is trying to hide it.”
The list of 2,059 Greek account holders at HSBC in Switzerland features dozens of prominent business figures including a handful of shipping tycoons, companies and two politicians. It also includes a painter, an actor and many listed as architects, doctors, lawyers and housewives.